Judge blocks parts of Trump executive order that targeted Perkins Coie law firm

(WASHINGTON) -- A federal judge on Wednesday entered an emergency order barring the Trump administration from implementing major parts of its executive order that sought to target the law firm Perkins Coie over its representation of Hillary Clinton's campaign in 2016.

District Judge Beryl Howell, ruling from the bench, found that attorneys for Perkins Coie had met the bar for her to enter a temporary restraining order -- determining they would suffer immediate and irreparable harm if provisions of the order targeting the law firm's work with government contractors as well as restrictions on their attorney's access to government buildings were implemented.

In an extraordinary hearing in which the Justice Department put forward Attorney General Pam Bondi's chief of staff, Chad Mizelle, to present its arguments, Howell repeatedly questioned the logic and legality surrounding the order — which she said had extraordinary breadth and whose language was unlike any other order she'd ever read.

"Regardless of whether the President dislikes the firm's clients ... issuing an executive order targeting the firm based on the President's dislike of the political positions of the firm's clients, or the firm's litigation positions is retaliatory and runs head on into the wall of First Amendment protection," Howell said.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

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